Modelling of wire-arc additive manufacturing – A review

Abstract

This paper is focused on wire-arc additive manufacturing and has a twofold objective. First, to deliver an overall state-of-the-art review of the different aspects of modelling. Second, to provide a detailed analysis of the macro-scale finite element modelling. The methodology draws from the fundamentals of the macro, meso and micro-scale modelling of the process, to the main strategies and objectives behind the development of analytical, statistical, machine learning and finite element analyses of macro-scale modelling. The intention is to provide information on the pre-processing requirements, solution techniques and results that are currently being worked on by some of the leading researchers in the field. This will enable readers to understand the main challenges, relevance, and assumptions of the different published works. The theoretical and numerical aspects are intentionally kept in a clear and understandable level so that users of finite element computer programs having the know-how on wire-arc additive manufacturing can bridge the actual gap to the developers of the programs.

Keywords

• Wire-arc additive manufacturing
• Modelling
• Macro-scale
• Finite element method
• State-of-the-art